This invention relates to football shoulder pads, and in particular to an improved flap for such shoulder pads that moves to accommodate the motion of the shoulder while remaining in protective position relative to the shoulder.
Football shoulder pads provide protection from impacts to the shoulder and upper body of the wearer. There are two principal, and sometimes competing, interests in the design of these shoulder pads: maximizing the protection to the wearer's body while minimizing restrictions on the wearer's movement. A particular problem has been the design of a shoulder pad to protect the wearer's shoulder, while allowing the wearer to freely raise his arms. Protective shoulder pads generally interfere with the movement of the shoulder and therefore restrict or impair arm movement.
As the arms are raised, the gleno-humeral shoulder joint accommodates the motion of the arm until it is about horizontal. As the arm is raised further, the center of motion shifts to sterno-clavical joint, which causes the shoulder to rise as the arm continues to move upwardly. Thus, when the arm is raised straight up, the shoulder is virtually adjacent the ear. Some shoulder pad constructions have been made to accommodate this movement of the shoulder and allow greater freedom of arm movement. Examples of such shoulder pads are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,332,859, 4,320,537 and 3,740,763 incorporated herein by reference.